Election day voting is underway in the Upper Hunter Shire as part of the 2021 NSW Local Government Elections on Saturday, December 4.
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Residents of the Upper Hunter will elect nine councillors from the 12 candidates nominated, with polls open from 8am to 6pm.
Regardless of the outcome, residents of the Upper Hunter Shire will have a very different looking council next year.
Four members of the previous council elected in 2016 are not running for re-election, including former Upper Hunter Mayor Wayne Bedggood who resigned as mayor and councillor in June, 2020 and former councillor Joshua Brown who resigned from the council in November 2020 after accepting a new job in Western Australia.
Incumbent Deputy Mayor Kiwa Fisher and councillor Lorna Driscoll, both from Aberdeen, are also not in the running after they decided not to stand for re-election.
Nine polling locations are available across the Upper Hunter Shire including in:
- ABERDEEN: Aberdeen Public School, Segenhoe Street, Aberdeen
- CASSILIS: Cassilis Public School, Coolah Road, Cassilis
- MERRIWA: Merriwa School of Arts, Bow Street, Merriwa
- MOONAN FLAT: Moonan Flat Soldiers Memorial Hall, Moonan Street, Moonan Flat
- MURRURUNDI: Murrurundi CWA Rooms, 109 Mayne Street, Murrurundi
- SCONE: Scone High School, Gundy Road, Scone
- SCONE: Scone Public School, Hill Street, Scone
- SCONE: Scone Senior Citizens Centre, Oxford Road, Scone
- WINGEN: Wingen School of Arts, 14 Madeline Street, Wingen
With COVID restrictions in place and a strong uptake in pre-polling, some of the typical fanfare of election day is missing in 2021.
Candidates are prohibited from handing out "tangible electoral material" such as how-to-vote cards on election day as part of the COVID safety measures.
The traditional sausage sizzles are also absent from many polling places in the Upper Hunter, leading to a relatively subdued and business-like atmosphere in Scone and Aberdeen.
At the polling place in Scone High School, incumbent councillor Lee Watts and candidate Tayah Clout greeted voters as they entered the polling place.
Ms Watts said it was a strange atmosphere compared to previous elections she had participated in with the absence of how-to-vote cards.
"It's a Saturday, people seem to want to get in and out this year," Ms Watts said.
After polls close at 6pm, the ballot boxes will be opened and the votes will begin to be counted, but no matter the result residents of Muswellbrook will see quite a different council compared to the one elected in 2016.
The highest vote-winners may know they have won a seat on Council by late Saturday evening, however with a preferential voting system in place many candidates will not know if they are likely to be elected until the distribution of preferences begins from Monday, December 20.
Results will then be progressively declared until Thursday, December 23.
Voters in the Upper Hunter will also not find out who has been elected Mayor until 2022 as, unlike many other councils in the Lower Hunter, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire Council are elected by councillors.
Once the election results are finalised, the elected councillors will meet in 2022 to determine the next Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire.
